Local Heroes

Not All Heroes Wear Capes; Some Wear Hair Nets

by Savannah Abeling, Taylor Joseph, & Ashton Siver

In this article, we will explore just how much the lunch staff does for CVA. We went to the cafeteria and interviewed the staff members we believe make a difference. These staff members go above and beyond their work, and love our school and the people they help. They enjoy helping children, and love their work strictly for the reason of helping the children.

First, we interviewed Ms. Deveans. We asked a series of personal and professional questions which she responded to wonderfully. The first question we asked Ms. Deveans was, “When did you start working here?” 

Ms. Deveans responded that she has worked in our Central Valley cafe since February of 2016. This means she has been working here just short of ten years. And she does a beautiful job. 

The next question that we asked Ms. Deveans was, “How frequently do you have enjoyable conversations with students?” 

Ms. Deveans replied, "Not often, mostly after break, and more with known kids." By this response Ms. Deveans meant that kids mostly come and speak with her after their lunch breaks. She knows the children that she normally talks to are enjoyable. 

The next question we asked Ms. Deveans was, “Do you enjoy the job and why?” 

Ms. Deveans responded, “I do. I like being busy and interacting with the kids. I went to college for Elementary Education and have stage fright, so I work in food service due to my college experience." Ms. Deveans further explained how she loves children and is happy to work at CVA. 

We then asked why she chose this job specifically and she exclaimed that it was an easy transition for her after what she had studied in college. She loves that it is a familiar dynamic, so she felt more comfortable with knowing what to do. 

Next, we asked what makes her go above and beyond for the students. Ms. Deveans answered that she tends to let the small things slide. She believes she wanted to work with kids not just because she enjoyed it, but because she found joy in the job. Ms. Deveans likes to have fun with the students because it’s just part of her job. 

We asked Ms. Deveans why she chose to keep her job at CVA, and she said that she’s comfortable here and doesn’t like change. We then asked Ms. Deveans why does she think she was selected for this interview. She originally said that she didn’t have a clue as to why we selected her. After a few minutes, she added that she was chosen for her daily kind interactions with the students. 

We then asked her why she treats the students with so much respect. She responded that if you don’t respect them, they won’t respect you. 

Next, we asked if she felt respected in her position and she told us, “Most of the time, around 98 percent of the time. There are some hard times with the students, but they usually come around." 

We asked her one final question which was, “What change would you like to see in the future?” Ms. Deveans responded with, “More money with the job.”

Another cafeteria worker that was interviewed was Eunice Cotto. She typically hands out the food to the students. We asked Mrs. Cotto the same questions as Ms. Deveans. The first question we asked was when she had started working at CVA. 

She responded, “I started this year on August 31st. Before coming to the school I worked at a nursing home for around 44 years.” 

The second question we had asked was, “How frequently do you have enjoyable conversations with students?”  

She responded with “All of the time, I usually speak to students while handing them their trays.

Usually, it's just subtle conversation.” We see Mrs. Cotto daily while getting our lunch and frequently have conversations with her. 

Our third question was, do you enjoy the job and why? 

Mrs. Cotto responded with, “Yes, we have a wonderful staff that works very well together and an amazing boss.” 

Another question we asked was why did you pick this job specifically? 

She responded with, “I wanted something closer to home. I am retired, but this was a way to get out of the house. I also enjoy cooking and preparing dishes for the students and interacting with them. The last thing is the days off that we get with school.” 

We also asked her what makes her go above and beyond for the students. 

Her response was, “It depends on the students and how they interact, but I love speaking to the students.” We see this very often with her speaking to all the students as they pass by. From our personal experience every time we go up and get our food now she will always tell her coworker how much we love our vegetables. 

The sixth question we asked was why do you continue in this profession? 

She responded with “the respectful students who enjoy chatting with her.” 

Next, we asked her why she thought she was selected for this article. 

She answered, “I have no clue.” 

Our reasoning for choosing her for this article was our conversations previously with her while in the lunch line. 

Another question we asked was “Why do you treat the students with such respect?” 

She put it simply by saying, “Treat others the way you want to be treated. I want them to treat me the way I treat them."

Nearing the end of our interview we asked her “Do you feel respected in your position?” 

She said there are times she doesn’t get the respect she deserves, but the time she does get respect makes up for that. 

Our final question was what change would you like to see in the future? 

She answered that she was unsure because she was such a new hire on the staff, but she believes that everything is good as of now.

These two interviewees are a great credit to how wonderful our cafeteria staff is. CVA is so lucky to have these two wonderful women working in our school system. It just shows how wonderful our cafeteria staff is at CVA. And it was a pleasure to be able to speak with them for this interview. They are such sweet and wonderful workers, and students should take pride in the fact that our cafeteria staff choose to work in our school system.